Alan Pardew is determined to finish in the top ten after Newcastle's 4-2 win over Southampton put them just three points away from the top half of the Premier League.

The Magpies boss wants his newly-confident team to "attack tenth" and be top of the form chart by the end of the season.

He said: "We've now put ourselves in a position to attack tenth. I said to them afterwards we should attack the top ten now, and we can with this team."

Pardew was pleased with his team's confidence and praised his players for not panicking after going a goal down early on.

"You can see a kind of assurance about us," he added. "Even when we went behind, we played with real calmness and didn't panic. Again, at 2-2, we rode a bad period. It bodes well going forward."

There was also praise for Newcastle's decision to hold a 'French Day' at St James' Park, with the stadium adorned in French flags and the players emerging from the tunnel to the French national anthem.

Full-back Mathieu Debuchy said: "It was a good initiative taken by the club to do that. It is something which has really touched me. I've been very warmly welcomed from day one."